Monday, March 31st
sounds of New York
Peter Evans’ Zebulon Trio (PE, trumpet; John Hebert, bass; Kassa Overall, drums), “Air Train,” live, New York (Jazz Gallery), 2013
**********
lagniappe
random thoughts
Note to self: cultivate lightness.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: jazz
2014
2014
Thursday, March 20th
spring!
Bob Dorough (1923-; vocals, piano), “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” (T. Wolf, F. Landesman), 1997
*****
Blossom Dearie (1924-2009; vocals, piano), “They Say It’s Spring” (M. Clark, B. Haymes), 1958
*****
Sun Ra Arkestra (SR [1914-1993], piano; June Tyson, vocals; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, et al.), “Springtime Again” (S. Ra), live, Rome, 1980
**********
lagniappe
reading table
A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown—
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole Experiment of Green—
As if it were his own!—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886; Franklin #1356)
***
spring rain—
the uneaten ducks
are quacking—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
2014
Wednesday, March 19th
sounds of New York
William Parker (bass), Christian McBride (bass), Cooper-Moore (drums), Charles Gayle (tenor saxophone), Hamiett Bluiett (baritone saxophone), Jason Kao Hwang (violin), live (benefit concert), New York, 2012
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Q: What would you do if you were not a composer?
Augusta Read Thomas (1964-): . . . I would spend all day listening. I could listen all day long until the day I die to music I’ve never heard and only begin to scratch the surface. There’s so much new. . . .
2014
Wednesday, March 12th
not for the faint of heart
Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet,* live, France (Le Mans), 2004
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Q: What would people be surprised to know that you listen to?
Bill Clinton: Brötzmann, the tenor sax player, one of the greatest alive.
—Oxford American, 2001 (annual music issue)
*****
*PB, reeds; Ken Vandermark, reeds; Joe McPhee, pocket trumpet, tenor saxophone; Roland Ramanan, trumpet, wooden flute; Toshinori Kondo, trumpet; Jeb Bishop, trombone; Fred Longberg-Holm, cello; Kent Kessler, bass; Michael Zerang, drums; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums.
2014
Monday, March 10th
serendipity
This I bumped into yesterday, while taking a break from work (murder case, tax stuff, etc.). I found it enthralling—maybe you will too.
Okkyung Lee (cello), live, Ireland (Cork), 2012
**********
lagniappe
radio
Today, on the heels of yesterday’s celebration of Ornette Coleman, WKCR (Columbia University) is hosting yet another birthday marathon—this one for jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, born on this date in 1903.
Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra (with Bix Beiderbecke [1903-1931], cornet), “I’m Coming Virginia” (1927)
2014
Sunday, March 9th
Al testifies
Al Green, “Jesus Is Waiting,” live (TV show), 1974
**********
lagniappe
radio
Today, in celebration of his 84th birthday, it’s all Ornette all day on WKCR (Columbia University).
Ornette Coleman Quartet (OC, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, trumpet; Charlie Haden, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums), “Blues Connotation” (1961)
2014
Thursday, February 27th
sounds of Chicago
Klang (James Falzone, clarinet; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Jason Roebke, bass; Tim Daisy, drums), live (studio performance), 2009
**********
lagniappe
art beat: the other day at the Art Institute of Chicago
Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Untitled (Purple, White, and Red), 1953
This painting and I have been getting together, several times a year, for decades. Admittedly, our relationship is rather one-sided. But, if anything, its indifference to me only deepens my feelings for it.
2014
Tuesday, February 25th
old stuff
Kansas City Six (Buck Clayton, trumpet; Lester Young, clarinet; Eddie Durham, electric guitar; Freddie Green, rhythm guitar; Walter Page, bass; Jo Jones, drums), “Pagin’ the Devil,” 1938
**********
lagniappe
reading table
in blossoming trees
suddenly he’s hidden . . .
my son—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
2014
Wednesday, February 19th
sounds of Chicago
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things (MR, drums; Jason Roebke, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone), “Wilbur’s Tune,” live, Paris, 2010
***
Mike Reed’s Myth/Science Assembly (MR, drums; Tomas Fujiwara, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Nick Butcher, electronics), live (rearranging a found Sun Ra fragment [excerpt]), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 2011
***
Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone), live (studio performance), Chicago, c. 2009
*****
If other Chicago musicians are “busy,” what’s Mike Reed? In addition to leading various groups, he owns and operates Constellation, a performing arts center. Then there’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, which this summer will feature, over the course of three days, Beck, Giorgio Moroder, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, et al. He books and produces it.
music clip of the day 